Trinidad & Tobago

It was a tough choice as to where to put Trinidad & Tobago : under 'North America' because it's part of the Caribbean, or under 'South America' because it's only about 6 miles from Venezuela. In the end I chose South America because of the proximity to the mainland, and because it's south of parts of Colombia and Venezuela. All the other Caribbean islands will be found under 'North America'.

Asa Wright Nature Preserve, Trinidad. If you're a birder Asa Wright Preserve is about as close to heaven as you can get. This large preserve is high up in the hills above the capital city of Port of Spain and is well worth the drive. Since Trinidad serves as a link between North America and South America, a main bird flyway passes right through here. Many migratory species pass through seasonally; others decided they like the place and just stay here all year.

Trinidad. I could easily fill up this whole page with just bird photos from the Wright Preserve but I'll try to show some restraint. But it is incredible how pretty most of them are and how close you can get to them.

Port of Spain, Trinidad. There are many grand old homes on Trinidad left over from the colonial era; many (like this one) are still lived in and are well- maintained. After a long morning walk around town checking out these beautiful old buildings this seemed like a good spot to kick up tired feet for a rest. One of the cool things about occasionally traveling solo is getting to do things entirely on your own schedule. Or sometimes to do nothing at all on your own schedule.

Caroni Bird Sanctuary, Trinidad. OK I lied - one more bird-tale. This was just too spectacular to leave out. A popular tourist activity on Trinidad is to take a late-afternoon boat trip deep into the Caroni Wetlands where scarlet ibises roost for the night. You go out a couple of miles into this maze of mangroves an hour or 2 before sunset, spotting other birds, snakes, fish, and lots of mosquitos along the way. You don't see a single scarlet ibis. Your guide anchors the boat near a mangrove island that looks just like every other mangrove island, and is completely empty of birds. So far it all seems like an epic fail. Then just before dark a beautiful blood-red ibis flies in and roosts. Then another, then several more, then within minutes it's just like a flood of scarlet color filling up the mangroves on this tiny little island. And only here and nowhere else. I wonder what was so special about that one island... Only the ibis knows.

There's plenty of other life here besides birds BTW...

Port of Spain, Trinidad. Most of the zoos in this part of the world are kinda sad... big animals in small enclosures. And with the entire Amazon rain forest so close by. But tigers don't live in the Amazon!

Port of Spain has some nice woodsy public parks.

Trinidad shows its European roots in its architecture.